U.S. Household Incomes Rose to Record in 2016 as Poverty Fell
Strength in the U.S. labor market likely played a role in declining poverty gradually
(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. median household income rose to a record last year and the poverty rate fell, as steady economic growth helped improve the lot of more Americans, according to annual data from the U.S. Census Bureau released Tuesday.
Highlights of Income and Poverty (2016) |
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The results show improving incomes helped to make a further dent in poverty in 2016, which was President Barack Obama’s final year in office.
Strength in the labor market likely played a role. The economy added 2.2 million jobs last year and the unemployment rate had declined to 4.7 percent by year end. It’s fallen further in recent months to a 16-year low.
While poverty is declining gradually, a sustained acceleration in wages remains elusive in this expansion. Last year’s poverty rate wasn’t “statistically different” from the 12.5 percent pre-recession level in 2007, according to the Census Bureau on Tuesday.
The annual report gives a more comprehensive, though less timely, snapshot than the Labor Department’s monthly employment report, which shows average hourly earnings of workers on private nonfarm payrolls, or the Commerce Department’s monthly personal income report.
Other Details
- Share of people without health insurance coverage for 2016 declined to 8.8 percent, or 28.1 million people, from 29 million in 2015
- Real median incomes for family households increased 2.7 percent to $75,062; for nonfamily households the gain was 4.5 percent to $35,761 last year
- Gini index for money income of 0.481 in 2016 was “not statistically different from 2015”
--With assistance from Vince Golle and Alex Tanzi
To contact the reporters on this story: Shobhana Chandra in Washington at schandra1@bloomberg.net, Jordan Yadoo in Washington at jyadoo@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Lanman at slanman@bloomberg.net, Sarah McGregor